SPRING GREEN — Three Belmont/Platteville wrestlers kept their seasons alive by qualifying for sectional competition at the WIAA Division 2 Regional Meet held at River Valley High School on Saturday.
Junior Isaac Wiegel will head to sectionals for the third year in a row after capturing his first career regional title with an impressive showing in the 113 pound weight class, and he will be joined at next weekend’s sectional by senior Lucas Fugate and freshman Tristen Gilbertson, who finished second at 182 pounds and 106 pounds, respectively, to give the Braves three qualifiers.
“That’s the most wrestlers I’ve had going on as coach,” said Belmont/Platteville head coach Andrew Campbell. “When you get to sectionals, anything is possible. You win that first match, and then you’re just one match away from state."
Wiegel (39–3) surrendered just three points en route to the regional crown at 113. Following an opening round bye, the Belmont junior blanked Prairie du Chien/Wauzeka–Steuben’s Chase Watson by a score of 5–0 to make the finals, and he claimed his first-ever regional title with a dominating 10–3 win over River Valley’s Rowen Wipperfurth.
“Isaac was challenged but his conditioning and aggression slowly wears kids out. It’s hard to stick with him for six minutes,” said Campbell.
Wiegel, who is ranked #3 in Division 2 at 113, will face Jefferson sophomore Weston Wright (24–17) in his opening round match at the Richland Center D2 Individual Sectional Meet, which is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
The top three finishers in each weight class advance to the 2017 WIAA State Tournament at UW–Madison’s Kohl Center on Feb. 23–25.
Gilbertson (20–11) opened the championship round by getting pinned by Richland Center’s Max Schmidt just 50 seconds into the finals match at 106. The Belmont freshman took second by rule over RV’s Haydn Walsh after posting a 15–0 technical fall decision over Walsh in 3:18 of their semifinal match.
“I was very proud of Tristen. To be a sectional qualifier as a freshman is a big deal,” said Campbell. “He’s been picking it up and wrestling a lot better lately. His finals match didn’t go the way he wanted, but he’s getting better and better against these kids he’s wrestled against earlier in the year.”
Gilbertson drew a tough match-up in his opening match at sectionals in Viroqua senior Jansen McClelland (36–10), who was ranked #11 in D2 at 113 before dropping down to the 106-pound class for the tournament.
Fugate (38–5) also took second for the Braves at 182, but he had to win a wrestleback match to earn his second career sectional berth. The Platteville senior made the finals in the class with an opening round bye and a 1:23 fall over River Valley’s Ethyn Johnson.
In the title match at 182, Fugate battled with RC’s Caleb Coleman from the opening whistle and got the Hornet briefly on his back, however Coleman rolled through and got Fugate to his back and recorded a pin a 1:17 to take the crown.
Fugate met Mount Horeb’s Travis Leuzinger in the wrestleback and earned his second straight sectional appearance by posting a 13–3 major decision.
“He came out there to prove something in that wrestleback match. He went out there and stuck with what he does well and it showed,” said Campbell.
Fugate, who is ranked #2 at 182 in D2, also received a tough draw in his sectional opener after being paired against Lodi senior Casey Persike (32–4), who is ranked #4 in D2.
Sophomore Trevor Heim (4–18) at 120 and freshman William Schaefer (21–15) at 195 each finished third in their weight classes for the Braves, while junior Joshua Taber (9–20) at 152 and senior Grey Genzoli (8–17) at 170 each placed fifth on the day.
“I think we wrestled well. Some of the guys wrestled matches against guys they’ve wrestled earlier in the year and may not have gotten a win but the score was closer than it was in their previous match,” Campbell said.
Host River Valley rolled to the team title with 275.5 points after crowning eight regional champions and advancing 10 wrestlers to sectionals. The Braves finished sixth overall with 106.5 points.
WIAA Division 2 River Valley Regional
(from Saturday, Feb. 11 @ Spring Green)
Team scores — 1.River Valley 275.5, 2.Prairie du Chien/Wauzeka–Steuben 189, 3.Richland Center 158, 4.Mount Horeb 114, 5.Dodgeville 113.5, 6.Belmont/Platteville 106.5, 7.Cuba City/Benton/Southwestern 66.
Belmont/Platteville sectional qualifiers
106 — Tristen Gilbertson (20-11) placed 2nd and scored 19.50 team points.
Quarterfinal - Tristen Gilbertson (Belmont/Platteville) 20-11 received a bye () (Bye)
Semifinal - Tristen Gilbertson (Belmont/Platteville) 20-11 won by tech fall over Haydn Walsh (River Valley) 9-7 (TF-1.5 3:18 (15-0))
1st Place Match - Max Schmidt (Richland Center) 31-3 won by fall over Tristen Gilbertson (Belmont/Platteville) 20-11 (Fall 0:50)
2nd Place Match - Tristen Gilbertson (Belmont/Platteville) 20-11 won by rule over Haydn Walsh (River Valley) 9-7 (RULE)
113 — Isaac Wiegel (39-3) placed 1st and scored 22.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Isaac Wiegel (Belmont/Platteville) 39-3 received a bye () (Bye)
Semifinal - Isaac Wiegel (Belmont/Platteville) 39-3 won by decision over Chase Watson (Prairie du Chien/Wauzeka-Steub) 24-17 (Dec 5-0)
1st Place Match - Isaac Wiegel (Belmont/Platteville) 39-3 won by decision over Rowen Wipperfurth (River Valley) 24-11 (Dec 10-3)
182 — Lucas Fugate (38-5) placed 2nd and scored 21.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Lucas Fugate (Belmont/Platteville) 38-5 received a bye () (Bye)
Semifinal - Lucas Fugate (Belmont/Platteville) 38-5 won by fall over Ethyn Johnson (River Valley) 1-9 (Fall 1:23)
1st Place Match - Caleb Coleman (Richland Center) 28-10 won by fall over Lucas Fugate (Belmont/Platteville) 38-5 (Fall 1:17)
2nd Place Match - Lucas Fugate (Belmont/Platteville) 38-5 won by major decision over Travis Leuzinger (Mount Horeb) 14-16 (MD 13-3)
Belmont/Platteville other results
120 — Trevor Heim (4-18) placed 3rd and scored 9.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Trevor Heim (Belmont/Platteville) 4-18 received a bye () (Bye)
Semifinal - Reid Koenig (Prairie du Chien/Wauzeka-Steub) 34-10 won by fall over Trevor Heim (Belmont/Platteville) 4-18 (Fall 2:00)
3rd Place Match - Trevor Heim (Belmont/Platteville) 4-18 received a bye () (Bye)
2nd Place Match - Reid Koenig (Prairie du Chien/Wauzeka-Steub) 34-10 won by rule over Trevor Heim (Belmont/Platteville) 4-18 (RULE)
152 — Joshua Taber (9-20) placed 5th and scored 7.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Devan Alt (River Valley) 16-18 won by major decision over Joshua Taber (Belmont/Platteville) 9-20 (MD 9-1)
Cons. Semi - Joshua Taber (Belmont/Platteville) 9-20 received a bye () (Bye)
5th Place Match - Joshua Taber (Belmont/Platteville) 9-20 won by decision over Brad Goffinet (Cuba City/Benton/Southwestern) 3-20 (Dec 7-5)
170 — Grey Genzoli (8-17) placed 5th and scored 9.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Zack Weber (Dodgeville) 10-8 won by tech fall over Grey Genzoli (Belmont/Platteville) 8-17 (TF-1.5 4:50 (16-0))
Cons. Semi - Grey Genzoli (Belmont/Platteville) 8-17 received a bye () (Bye)
5th Place Match - Grey Genzoli (Belmont/Platteville) 8-17 won by fall over Evan Thomas (Richland Center) 14-20 (Fall 1:49)
195 — William Schaefer (21-15) placed 3rd and scored 16.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - William Schaefer (Belmont/Platteville) 21-15 won by fall over Jonathon Geisking (Dodgeville) 9-18 (Fall 0:28)
Semifinal - Brock Mahoney (River Valley) 16-17 won by decision over William Schaefer (Belmont/Platteville) 21-15 (Dec 7-1)
3rd Place Match - William Schaefer (Belmont/Platteville) 21-15 won by fall over Adam Rynes (Richland Center) 19-18 (Fall 2:57)
2nd Place Match - Brock Mahoney (River Valley) 16-17 won by rule over William Schaefer (Belmont/Platteville) 21-15 (RULE)
220 — Venkat Reedy (3-21) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Alex Peters (Richland Center) 26-11 won by fall over Venkat Reedy (Belmont/Platteville) 3-21 (Fall 0:27)
Cons. Semi - Keegan Smith (River Valley) 2-12 won by decision over Venkat Reedy (Belmont/Platteville) 3-21 (Dec 7-4)
285 — Christopher Spoor (5-23) placed 6th and scored 3.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Eli Schieldt (Richland Center) 17-16 won by fall over Christopher Spoor (Belmont/Platteville) 5-23 (Fall 0:40)
Cons. Semi - Christopher Spoor (Belmont/Platteville) 5-23 received a bye () (Bye)
5th Place Match - Luke Wright (Prairie du Chien/Wauzeka-Steub) 3-4 won by fall over Christopher Spoor (Belmont/Platteville) 5-23 (Fall 4:11)
